MEDIA ADVISORY
February 16, 2010
CONTACTS
Ali Bay (916) 651-4003
Rand Martin (916) 441-1034
Medical Cannabis Report, Commissioned by State, to be Released
SACRAMENTO – In 1999, the California Legislature and Governor enacted Senate Bill 847 (Vasconcellos), which commissioned the University of California to establish a scientific research program to expand the scientific knowledge on purported therapeutic usages of medical marijuana. The legislation passed with a strong bi-partisan vote and was supported by former Attorney General Dan Lungren as well as a coalition of statewide public safety and health organizations.
Pursuant to the new law, the University of California-San Diego established the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) in 2000. The Legislature appropriated a total of $8.7 million to CMCR that has been used during the ensuing years to conduct clinical and pre-clinical trials of cannabis, including smoked medical marijuana, to provide evidence one way or the other to answer the question, “Does medical marijuana have therapeutic value?”
To achieve its objectives, CMCR funded a variety of carefully designed studies, and is prepared to release a report summarizing its research.
When: Wednesday, February 17, 2010
10 a.m.
Where: State Capitol
Room 3191
Who: Senator Mark Leno
Senator John Vasconcellos (ret), author of SB 847
Igor Grant, MD, Director, CMCR
J. Hampton Atkinson, MD, Co-director, CMCR
Barth Wilsey, MD, Clinical Professor, UC-Davis Health System
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2/15/2010 – An excellent review of clinical studies on the medical use of cannabis and cannabinoids has been published by Arno Hazekamp and Franjo Grotenhermen. The authors summarize 37 different controlled studies in the period July 1, 2005 – August 1, 2009. Eight specifically involved smoked marijuana, all of which indicated medical efficacy. Conditions treated included chronic pain, HIV neuropathy, spinal cord injury, and Hep C. The authors add that at least 110 studies on medical cannabis have been published since 1975. So much for the notion that our drug bureaucrats need more studies on medical marijuana.
-Dale Gieringer
Read the study.